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NCR Ursa Major
The NCR Ursa Major is a Vertibird and helicopter carrier in service with the NCR Navy, and is the largest vessel of the NCR Navy and the former flagship until the refurbishment of the pre-war guided missile frigate that would become known as the NCR Aradesh. The ship is named for the constellation Ursa Major or the "Great Bear" in Latin, but also meant to be evocative of the bear on the NCR flag. History Prior to Commissioning Before the Great War of 2077, the ship that would become the Ursa Major was a 267 meter long container ship belonging to the Los Angeles-based Trans-Pacific Cargo Lines or TPCL, the MV Seabridge, its name intended to be evocative of its role in "bridging" the oceans by transporting cargo from overseas ports. While most of the TPCL ships were destroyed in the nuclear destruction of LA and other major ports in the Great War of 2077, the Seabridge was at sea at the time and survived, the crew later anchoring off the California coast and disembarking by way of the ship's dinghies and lifeboats, leaving the ship abandoned. By 2150, the ship was home to "Abrig", a floating settlement named for the only letters of the ship's original name that remained legible. The ship's fusion reactors continued to operate, providing power and water purification for the roughly 200 residents. During the period rapid NCR expansion in the 2250s, the relatively intact ship caught the attention of the NCR Navy, who were already in the process of refurbishing surviving ships to serve in the expanding fleet needed to eradicate piracy on the California coast. After much controversy, in 2252 the NCR and the settlers of "Abrig" agreed on a buyout of 20 million NCR dollars, equivalent to about 27 million caps during the period where the NCR dollar was strong thanks to the backing of the NCR gold reserves, as well as the construction of a new settlement on the coast, complete with fusion reactor and water purifier. The "Abrig" was towed to a refurbished dry dock in Dayglow (former San Diego) and the hull was cleaned barnacles and other sea life and the propellers and boilers brought up to working order after four years of painstaking work that challenged the limits of NCR industrial capacity, with many parts having not been produced since before the war having to be custom machined. The crude metal and wood partitions and structures on deck of the settlement were removed and between 50 and 100mm of steel armor plate were placed over the interior of the hold that would become the main storage and living space of the ship, as well as the machinery spaces and bridge. The reactor also has a second layer of 80mm of steel covering the vital component. The two rearmost container holds were modified into two-deck living quarters, storage space, and other facilities for the crew of about 200 personnel. The ship was christened Ursa Major and launched in 2256 in a ceremony presided over by NCR president Wendell Peterson. While originally being intended as a standard warship armed with two 155mm howitzers and other guns, in 2258, NCR Air Force colonel Aaron Rice proposed that the ship be modified to carry VTOL aircraft such the Vertibirds recently captured from the Enclave. Later that year, Rice landed a Vertibird on a pad constructed on the foredeck of the Ursa Major, proving the concept. After his proposal for modification into a VTOL carrier was sent to a committee of ten high-ranking NCR Navy and Air Force officers, the committee voted six to four to accept the proposal. Modifications to the Ursa Major were completed in 2261, and the ship was hailed as the first aircraft carrier of the postwar world, though by pre-war standards, she was more a helicopter carrier, with no capacity to operate fixed-wing aircraft. The forward two cargo holds were modified into hangar space for four Vertibirds or large helicopters, or eight larger helicopters, and the mechanisms of the on-board cranes were modified to act as a flight deck elevator, lifting aircraft on to landing pads on the four and aft deck. Operational History The NCR Ursa Major saw its first action on June 21st, 2263 during Operation Gatekeeper, the NCR annexation of San Francisco, in order to prevent the Brotherhood of Steel from seizing assets in the city, including the technological assets possessed by the Shi, as well as . Vertibirds launched from the Ursa Major provided gunship support and transported troops to the Golden Gate, where, along with a larger force of NCR Marine and Army troops landed by boat, quickly seized the pre-war Nike Myrmidon missile bunkers on the heights with minimal resistance from the Hubologists controlling the area. The remains of the San Francisco docks, including the remains of the PMV Valdez, the pre-war oil tanker used by the figure known as "The Chosen One" to reach and destroy the Enclave oil rig in 2241, were also cleared with little resistance. The Shi, with their xenophobic attitudes and advanced technology, as well as their knowledge of the streets of the abandoned city, initially offered resistance powerful enough to hold back the NCR troops, but four Vertibird gunships from the Ursa Major managed to destroy Shi defensive positions with Gatling laser, rocket, and mini-nuke strikes. The Steel Palace was soon surrounded, and NCR forces threatened to bomb the structure if the Shi did not surrender. The leader of the Shi, actually a pre-war Chinese AI known as the "Emperor" realized it could not defeat the superior numbers of NCR forces, especially with air and naval support, and surrender. By June 30th, all resistance in San Francisco was pacified and the city was under NCR control. On July 2nd, 2263, the NCR commenced "Operation Necromancer", the operation to seize and salvage the "Ghost Fleet", the former US Navy reserve fleet in Suisun Bay. The Vertibirds from the Ursa Major landed NCR troops on the ships, quickly clearing them of the mirelurks that had taken up residence in the derelict vessels. The operation, which took place over most of July, saw the towing away of several ships judged to be in repairable condition, including a guided missile frigate that would later become the NCR Aradesh. The Ursa Major would also see use in NCR assault on Brotherhood positions in the city of Monterrey in 2266, leading to the successful capture the Brotherhood outpost in that city, and would go on to see use in the NCR assault on the Brotherhood city of Steelport (former Morro Bay) in 2269, launching Vertibird gunboats to attack the small fleet of Brotherhood controlled boats. During the attack, the Ursa Major lost a Vertibird and two helicopters to Brotherhood-controlled point-defense lasers placed in bunkers in the mountains to the west of the city. For this reason, NCR commanders became more cautious with the use of their relatively few aircraft, and the Ursa Major's aircraft, as well as NCR land-based aircraft would be limited in their number of sorties, with most sorties that were launched consisting of very low-level operations, with Vertibirds and helicopters flying at rooftop level. Eventually, most of the Brotherhood heavy lasers on the shores of Steelport were neutralized by naval gunfire and artillery and NCR Ranger units, allowing the landing of troops on the beaches at Morro Dunes and Oceano, which were supported by Vertibirds of the Ursa Major. The operation took the cities of San Luis Obispo and Santa Marta from the Brotherhood by 2270, leaving the only area of California left in Brotherhood hands being a small area of the Coastal Mountains west of San Luis Obispo and east of Lost Hills, centered around the Lost Hills bunker. The NCR Ursa Major would also launch aircraft in the only naval action of the NCR-Legion War, the Siege of Puerto Penasco in former-Mexico. The Ursa Major was part of the attacking fleet, with its Vertibirds providing gunship support and landing squads of troops. Design Details Armament While primarily a helicopter and Vertibird carrier, the NCR Ursa Major retains some on board armament to defend against surface and aerial threats. The biggest guns are two 140mm tank guns in a twin turret taken from a destroyed M49 Heavy tank, intended to engage large surface vessels. For defense against smaller vessels and aircraft, a 40mm Bofors twin mount, four Browning M2 machine gun guns, two L30 Gatling lasers, and two miniguns are mounted in manned gun mounts. Six M5 Mark III .50 caliber M5 Sentry turrets, which are fully autonomous, but are usually remotely operated from the bridge are also mounted. Finally, two FGM-219 "Quadbarrel" 85mm dual purpose missile launchers are mounted in 2 M5 Mark V Sentry turrets on the roof of the bridge, for use primarily against aerial targets. Aviation Facilities The NCR Ursa Major has two helipads, the forward helipad immediately after of the twin 120mm gun turret and the rear helipad forward of the bridge. A flight deck elevator was constructed from the on board cranes, which leads down to the forward cargo hold, which acts as the ship's hangar. The hangar is capable of holding six Vertibird or large helicopters (such as the UH-1 or AH-56), or eight small helicopters. Experiments were also carried out in 2271 involving using the third onboard crane to lift a refurbished seaplane into and out of the water, which proved successful, though seaplanes are not regularly operated from the Ursa Major. Category:Vehicles Category:Technology Category:New California Republic